Chad Mendes Says Jose Aldo Is Running From Him

Following the postponement of their scheduled title bout at the ill-fated UFC 176 pay-per-view, UFC featherweight contender Chad Mendes says champion Jose Aldo can run, but he can’t hide. During an interview on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour, Mendes says the time will come when they meet inside the octagon – and he’ll be walking out with UFC gold.

“Jose Aldo can’t run from me forever. This fight’s going to happen and I’m going to take the belt from him.”

The two fighters first met back in January 2012, with Aldo scoring a first round knockout win over the current #1 ranked UFC featherweight. Since then, Menes has won five straight fights and cannot wait until he gets his hands on Jose Aldo this fall.

“I’m tired of it. This is something he’s been doing for so long. The first time he did the same thing. I ended up taking another fight, I ended up fighting Rani Yahya in the meantime because I didn’t want to be on the shelf for a year.”

“I beat Yahya, I got the title shot. As far as injuries and backing out of fights, it’s irritating and it pissed me off. It’s time everyone sees the real picture here.”

Earlier this week, news broke that Lorenzo Fertita was considering crowning an interim Featherweight champion if Jose Aldo is out of action for an extended period of time. Chad Mendes would fight either Frankie Edgar (ranked #2) or Cub Swanson (ranked #3). The winner of that fight would then go on to face Aldo to unify the titles.

Comment below and tell us who you think will walk out as UFC Featherweight champion when Jose Aldo and Chad Mendes do square off.